My Advice for a New Student

My advice for a new student in IIEP is to take every opportunity to use English. Although it is difficult, the student should not communicate in his or her native language. Learning a language includes understanding and producing. Understanding English—either spoken or written—is much easier than producing language—either spoken or written. Therefore, practicing speaking and writing as much as possible is the only way to get better at producing English. I had a Korean student once who resolved not to use Korean while she studied English. When a Korean friend would speak to her in Korean, she would respond in English. When she met a Korean, she started her conversation in English. Her commitment paid off—she was one of the best language learners I have ever had. She once told me that at the end of the semester some of her Korean friends were surprised to find that she spoke Korean! This example illustrates how my advice can benefit any new student. Therefore, I recommend that the new student use every chance to speak or write in English.

April 13, 2006

I thought you might like to see some of the pictures from the tornado that hit Iowa City two years ago. (NOTE: This is not the topic of your blog this week--go to ICON to find out what you are supposed to write about.)

Amazing Technology

I think that the personal computer in the most amazing invention that has been made in my lifetime. When I was young, I never imagined a personal computer. I remember when my father got his first electronic calculator. Prior to that, he had used a slide rule for calculations in his engineering job. However, with the calculator, he could quickly find square roots of any number. While the calculator was incredible, the personal computer is even more useful and marvelous. Typing anything is very easy. If I make a mistake, I can easily fix it, unlike with a typewriter where fixing errors was messy and sloppy. Printing is also easy. I can make as many copies of any document that I want. Besides just typing, I can use my personal computer to make eye-catching Power Point slide shows, send email, and surf the web. A computer is not only for work-related functions, but also for fun activities. In my opinion, the personal computer has revolutionalized life.